urn:taro:utexas.cah.00201p13A Guide to the Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., PapersText converted and initial EAD tagging done by Bill Hardesty on May 22, 2003Finding aid written in English.Tue Jul 22 15:29:12 CDT 2003urn:taro:utexas.cah.00201 converted from EAD 1.0 to 2002 by v1to02.xsl (20030505).August 12, 2008Restriction removed by Evan Hocker as per DEC and Stephanie Malmros.September 2010Linked multi-pages, updated specifics about restrictions, and created/updated/separated
EAD files previously thought lost in 2003 by Laurel Rozema.
Descriptive Summary
Bentsen, LloydLloyd M. Bentsen, Jr., Papers1921-1998AR
88-066; 88-370; 88-395; 89-072; 90-100; 90-287; 91-002; 91-010; 91-028; 91-046; 91-047; 91-135;
91-182; 91-344; 92-043; 92-149; 92-165; 92-359; 93-061; 93-138; 93-162; 93-188; 93-239; 94-269;
94-347; 95-005; 95-017; 95-029; 95-064; 95-167; 95-210; 96-237; 96-274; 96-289; 97-092; 97-098;
98-236; 98-246; 99-175; 99-199; 2000-180; 2000-185; 2000-269; 2002-0672687 cubic feetCorrespondence, printed material, creative works, legal documents,
financial documents, minutes, photographic materials, sound recordings, and works of art make up
the papers of Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. (1930-1994, bulk 1971-1993). Bentsen and his staff
created the bulk of the material during his term as United States Senator from Texas
(1971-1993), though the papers also contain records from Bentsen's term as United States
Secretary of the Treasury (1993-1994). A limited amount of the material documents Bentsen's
career in business and his private life. Few records exist from his term in the United States
House of Representatives (1948-1955).Dolph Briscoe Center for American History,The University of Texas at
AustinMaterials are in English.
Biographical Note

Lloyd Millard Bentsen, Jr., Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, U.S. Senator and
Representative, businessman, Texas county judge, and decorated World War Two veteran, was born
in Mission, Texas, on February 11, 1921. He ran for Vice-President of the United States in 1988
on the Democratic ticket with then Massachusettes governor Michael Dukakis. He served as
Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton from 1993 to 1994. Bentsen kept up a full
schedule until 1998, when he retired after a decline in his health. He died on May 23, 2006.

For more information, click
here for the first page of the Bentsen Papers.

Scope and Contents

Correspondence, printed material, creative works, legal documents, financial documents,
minutes, photographic materials, sound recordings, and works of art make up the papers of
Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen, Jr. (1930-1994, bulk 1971-1993). Bentsen and his staff created the
bulk of the material during his term as United States Senator from Texas (1971-1993), though the
papers also contain records from Bentsen's term as United States Secretary of the Treasury
(1993-1994). A limited amount of the material documents Bentsen's career in business and his
private life. Few records exist from his term in the United States House of Representatives
(1948-1955).

The material is organized in ten subgroups. The first seven subgroups consist of records from
Bentsen's Senate offices.

For more information on
each subgroup, click here for the first page of the Bentsen Papers.

Access Restrictions

Casework and personnel files are restricted for 75 years after creation, up to the year
2068.

Use of some audio and video materials is by appointment only; please contact sound
archivist.

By Senator Bentsen's third term, his office received over 5000 pieces of mail
per week. In a single day, the office might receive 2000 pieces. The
Business and Administrative Manager oversaw the correspondence process,
which required opening, sorting, and forwarding incoming mail, and producing
and filing outgoing mail. Bentsen's Executive Secretary or Assistant
received his personal letters and invitations. Press mail went to the Press
Secretary. Political mail went to the Administrative Assistant. Mail from
constituents about issues made up a large proportion of the incoming mail.
Typically, Research Assistants, in consultation with Legislative Assistants,
researched issues and developed responses, contacting other Congressional
offices, Committee staffs, and federal agencies as necessary. Once a
response had been drafted, the Chief Research Assistant edited it. Then,
after the Legislative Director reviewed the prospective letter, Bentsen
himself or his Administrative Assistant approved it, and staff sent it out
over his name.

During Bentsen's first term, staff typed individual letters or drew on a
library of complete letters on various issues. Automatic typewriters
generated these issue letters, called "robos" by the Bentsen staff. Starting
in late 1977, Bentsen's staff adopted the Correspondence Management System
(CMS), a more sophisticated form of automation. In CMS, a database holds a
"library" of individual paragraphs, and staff built individual letters out
of them. Thus, a particular letter about an issue or legislation received a
more detailed response than a general "robo" letter, and staff could respond
more easily to a letter that raised multiple issues. CMS permitted the
modification of library items or the creation of original letters as
needed.

Staff members in the various sections read all mail, and, if appropriate,
assigned codes for CMS library items on a work order. CMS operators then
entered the name and address of the correspondent and created the letter.
CMS included the capability to produce statistical reports, using topics,
dates, and correspondents, about the Senator's correspondence. A small
number of letters required individual responses, typed by staff. CMS staff
entered these letters into the system, as well, so it held a complete record
of Bentsen's correspondence.

Bentsen's staff used micrographics to store portions of his correspondence
files. Many letters were microfilmed, and certain indexes and reports were
created onto computer-output microfilm.

Scope and Contents Note

Incoming and outgoing letters, and associated coversheets, workforms, and
enclosures from correspondents including printed material, photographic
material, and sound recordings, constitute the bulk of Senator Bentsen's
correspondence files. The files include both original letters and
microfilmed copies, as well as reports, notes, indexes, and lists.

Constituent correspondence about current events, pending legislation,
social trends, and other matters, constitutes the issue mail series
(1970-1993). In 1978, Bentsen's office adopted the Correspondence
Management System (CMS), and altered its filing system. Hence, the
series is divided into two subseries, Constituent correspondence
(1971-1979), and Correspondence Management System files (1978- 1993). In
both systems, a constituent's letter was filed by the date of Bentsen's
reply. Within each date, letters receiving identical or near-identical
responses from the Senator were filed together by volume. Each
sub-series is therefore divided into two sub-sub-series. Senator
Bentsen's responses form part of the System records series.

The Subject files contain letters from person or small numbers of persons
(around 10 or fewer) who received individual or unique responses. These
files include replies to constituents whose letters discussed multiple
issues. Staff arranged the subject files by year, legislative session,
and topic. In the finding aid, where it was possible to determine the
session, the first (January-June) precedes the second (July-December).
The following inventory thus contains one alphabetical subject list for
1971, two each for the years 1972-1978, and one for the first session in
1979. Some Subject files for 1978-1979 include CMS code dates,
reflecting the transition between systems. A file of National
correspondence (1973-1977) is at the end of the Subject list, including
a file of letters to Bentsen from non-Texans regarding the Subcommittee
on Public Works (1973-1977). Correspondence about Public Activities and
Political Affairs was filed separately, and is listed in the
Personal/Political series.

The Robos files contain constituent mail that received form letters from
the Senator in reply. The robos files (1970-1978) consist of constituent
letters, bundled together, with cover sheets indicating the date and
code number of the Senator's response. The bundles range in size from
one letter to several hundred. Often, these files reflect coordinated
efforts by interest, business, or community groups to influence the
Senator. The earliest robos files include the names and addresses of
correspondents on their coded cover sheets. That information is also
available in the System records series. Robos correspondence has been
foldered and listed by date, though each box is not strictly
chronologically consistent. Some portions of the robos subseries
inventory below include the titles of Bentsen's responses, but in
general, access to the robos letters is by date only.

Correspondence Management System files, 1978-1993, also contain two
sub-subseries, Singles files (1977-1992) and Group files (1978-1993).
All CMS correspondence was filed by the date of Bentsen's response.
Generally, the sheet indicating the response codes was filed with the
letters. CMS could generate mass mailings off-site or through an
in-office printer.

Singles files include up to five constituent letters receiving the same
response on a particular day. The Group files contain more than five
letters, all receiving the same response on the same day. Though some
mail was filed by subject into 1979, in general, all of Bentsen's issue
mail from constituents was filed by date after 1977.

Consult the Outgoing Correspondence and System Records Series description
for more information. Indexes in that series provide name and subject
access to the correspondence listed here.

Some portions of the inventory below include information about the titles
of Bentsen's responses, the name of the CMS operator, and the number of
the job.